Officials Question Inlet Commissioner`s Voting Card Address

July 27, 1985|By Sally Gelston, Staff Writer

LAKE WORTH — South Lake Worth Inlet District Commissioner Ed Shepherd II -- already under scrutiny for an invalid voter registration card that could lead to his expulsion from office -- has re-registered to vote using an address that officials find questionable.

``It appears that false information was given on the second registration,`` Jackie Winchester, the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, said Friday.

``We`re going to do a little investigation on it to determine what, if any, laws were violated,`` he said.

Shepherd, 31, said he considers the address he gave a valid residence even though he gave the house in Lantana to his ex-wife in divorce proceedings a year ago, sold it to someone else three weeks ago, and lost water service for nonpayment of a $114 bill Tuesday.

``No one stays in a house without water,`` said Winchester, who defines a voter`s residence as where he lives, not where he owns property or visits.

But Shepherd said he still retains residency in the Lantana house -- which lies inside the district he represents -- because the new owners will not take possession until sometime next month.

``I have two houses,`` said Shepherd, adding that he divided his time this past year between visiting his ex-wife, Laura, in the Lantana house, and staying in another house he bought outside his district the day after his July 5, 1984 divorce.

``If I registered anywhere else, it would not be in the district,`` Shepherd said Friday.

The six-member commission oversees maintenance of the Boynton Inlet and nearby park. Its annual $300,000 budget comes from the special taxing district extending from southern West Palm Beach to Boynton Beach.

Members get $100 a month expenses, but no salary.

Winchester said she invited Shepherd to re-register in March after she canceled his previous voters registration because it was made in 1976, while he was a convicted felon who would not regain the right to vote until 1977.

Shepherd had to be a legally registered voter in order to run for inlet commissioner in 1982, but he was not legally registered because of the faulty application, Winchester said.

Inlet District Chairman Ed Foley said he decided to have the records sent to Gov. Bob Graham, who by state law would appoint a replacement if Shepherd leaves office.

Governor`s General Counsel Syd McKenzie said he must look into who holds the power to remove an Inlet District commissioner.

Shepherd said this scrutiny has prompted him to reconsider his plans.

``I was going to seek another house in the district, but in light of this, I don`t know,`` Shepherd said.

Shepherd said he called his attorney for help. ``I`m doing everything I can to stay on board.``

Winchester said she started looking into Shepherd`s eligibility to hold office after she heard that his right to vote was not restored by the state Office of Executive Clemency until nearly a year after his 1976 application for voters registration.

On the 1976 registration form, Shepherd marked ``no`` to questions asking if he was ever convicted of a felony or previously registered to vote.

But Shepherd received a felony conviction in 1972, at the age of 19, for pleading guilty to attempted possession of heroin. He received three years probation, which ended in 1975, court records show.

And in 1971, Shepherd registered to vote for the first time. He voted by absentee ballot in two 1972 primaries before his voting rights were canceled because of the conviction in October of that year, elections records show.

Shepherd said he can remember neither registering to vote at age 18 nor voting twice by absentee ballot while he resided for a year in a Miami drug rehabilitation center.

Graduating from the drug abuse program was a condition of his three-year probation, he said. He said he was not physically addicted, but needed to grow up and break out of the drug-oriented social environment he had fallen into.

``I was forgetting that part of life until this came up,`` he said while sitting in the West Palm Beach auto showroom where he is a prize-winning salesman. ``I`m a different person now.``

Shepherd said he marked the box indicating he was not a convicted felon because he wanted to vote and he thought his criminal record was sealed.

He said he was surprised to learn recently that every page of the case is available on microfilm in the courthouse, because no one had ever detected it when checking him out for bonding or insurance.

``I did not intentionally lie for a reason (in 1976). The only reason was to vote. I did not do it with the intention of running for inlet commission. I was a kid,`` Shepherd said.

Stockton said the State Attorney`s Office will look into whether Shepherd committed perjury, followed by voting illegally with a false registration.